13
by Pastopresent
Summary: After an exciting adventure with his first incarnation, the twelfth doctor realises his time has come. Follow the 13th Doctor on her adventures with some old and new friends as she explores the universe, fights monsters and finds Gallifrey!
1. Chapter 1: The Clock Strikes 13

It was time. He realised that now, after an adventure with a very young version of himself he knew that regeneration was to be embraced and not shunned. Whilst he did continue to believe becoming an entirely new person every time he died once every few hundred years was irritating, it was better than the alternative. Besides, change kept things interesting. Going around in one body for all of your life must be incredibly dull. Yet another of those rare moments where he appreciated all the Time Lords had accomplished came and went and he was finally ready to go.

"The clock strikes 13" he said with a slight chuckle, as he glanced down at his right hand to see all of the regeneration energy emanating from the appendage. Sighing once more, he threw his head back staring at the ceiling of the TARDIS, thus allowing all the pent up energy to be realised, healing the wounds inflicted by multiple generations of Cybermen and altering his physical form once again. He knew the rounds, it's not like regeneration was new to him, he had done it plenty times before, however this time something felt… off. Time seemed to be slowing down; he felt each individual change as they happened, his skin becoming tighter and younger, and his height dropping slightly. What was only a few seconds felt like an eternity as he relished in the feeling of being born again. As all the necessary energy for regeneration was used up he knew he was a changed man.

Only that phrase wasn't particularly applicable anymore.

She threw her head forward in excitation as she came back down from the high of regeneration. Catching a glimpse of herself in the console's monitor, she mumbled something along the lines of "Huh nice. Sort of reminds me of my fifth". She paused, thinking she might have missed something, before taking a proper look at herself.

"OH MY GOD!" She yelled, as the TARDIS started whirring at her. "You better not be laughing missy" she said sternly as she wagged her finger at the time rotor. The TARDIS then seemingly emitted noises that the Doctor took as an apology. With the TARDIS' sass dealt with, the Doctor turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "So it's finally happened hey?" she said to herself. "Good thing I already parted ways with my first self. If he saw what I'd change into he'd have had a heart attack! And that's not good for the timeline, him regenerating into that second form earlier than he should have." She looked down at herself. "These clothes aren't exactly fitting anymore. I should go change."

She left the console room making her way to the wardrobe. "Female attire, that's something I haven't needed to consider before. I'm already bad enough at fashion, hopefully I can find something good to wear." As she was walking down the long corridors of the infinitely adaptable ship, she felt lightheaded and sunk to the floor. Her vision was blurry, and there was a slight headache that she already knew was going to get much worse. "A nice cup of tea and a trip to the Zero Room should fix the regeneration sickness" she said to herself, picking herself up from the floor. "But not before I find something more appropriate to wear."

Reaching the wardrobe, she immediately set out to find something her size. After about a half hour, she found a dark hoodie and a pair of jeans she thought would suit her for the time being. She could always get fashion tips later, now she needed something practical (the hoodie had a lovely inside pocket to store the sonic). However, seeing as she had only recently entered womanhood, there was something very important she had forgotten. And whilst the wardrobe housed many articles of clothing from any of earth's time periods (and some from Mars' earlier days) the wardrobe did not stock undergarments. This left the Doctor in a rather compromising position. "I wonder if Bill's got any spare clothes in her room…" The idea gave the Doctor some hope, so she made the quick trip to Bill's room in order to scavenge anything so could find. The room was neat and tidy, hardly surprising as it was mostly unused, what with Bill being a part time companion whilst the Doctor was 'grounded' at the university. However, on the rare occasion they had shared a few trips before returning home, Bill had used this room to sleep and store emergency supplies. Supplies the Doctor could make urgent use of right about now.

"Hold on" she said to herself before making any moves. "These are Bill's things, it's wrong of me to steal them for my own purposes." She considered the latest in a long line of companions. She was good fun Bill, always had a joke to crack even in the most dire of circumstances. She complemented his grouchier sarcastic persona. He regretted not spending more time with her, it was his fault she was gone after he cared more for Missy's change of heart than their adventures. And his mistake had cost both Bill's and Missy's (and Nardole's come to think of it) lives. He was alone again and only had himself to blame. The Doctor then thought she was being a bit too hard on herself. Bill was 'alive' and well exploring the universe with her girlfriend in liquid form, and the Master wasn't one for staying dead so she was certain she'd run into her again sooner or later. Maybe it might be a him next time. Time Lord gender was confusing.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she realised that Bill wasn't going to make much use out of clothes anymore so she decided it was alright to borrow a bra or two. With the problem solved for the time being, she headed off to the kitchen to make a quick cuppa before heading down to the Zero Room for some R&R.

Once all her needs were attended to and the regeneration sickness had faded, the Doctor returned to the console room in order to start a new adventure in a new body. Touching the console she looked up to the time rotor. "I have to congratulate you old girl" she said as she pulled down on the space time throttle, the time rotor turning as the ancient engines of the TARDIS roared to life. "Ever since the Time War whenever I regenerate you've had the rather annoying tendency to start exploding and follow it up with a crash landing. I'm glad it hasn't come to that this tim-"

The Doctor was cut off mid-sentence as the console emitted sparks followed by the entire room shaking. The Doctor nearly lost her footing but she held onto the console tightly. The cloister bell starting ringing as the TARDIS' emergency lighting illuminated the room in a deep crimson. "Oh for heaven's sake…" the Doctor muttered as the TARDIS began crash landing. If she survived she was going to have a little talk with her precious mobile home…


	2. Chapter 2: New Friend

She survived the crash, so she had that going for her.

The Doctor surveyed the damage to her beloved ship. Bookcases had fallen, spewing books from many different galaxies all over the control room, the staircase leading to the upper level of the control room have collapsed, falling and blocking entry to the lower levels. The Time Rotor had cracked, with a book lodged in the centre. The console itself was in various states of… exploded. One of the monitors had fallen on the floor and cracked. Some of the lights had burst, leaving glass on the floor and the room dim. The Doctor picked up the monitor and bought it to a seemingly functional panel. Accessing the Fault Locator, the Doctor checked to see the state of the ship. The console room was a bust, and would have to be rebuilt, but most primary components were working normally. However normally for her TARDIS was not optimally for other Type 40s.

Activating the repair protocol, the Doctor realised there wasn't much more she could do other than wait for the TARDIS to repair itself. Hastily she walked over to the front doors and took a deep breath, not knowing whether outside would have a breathable atmosphere or not.

Stepping outside the Doctor saw she had landed on a rock in the middle of an asteroid belt. Realising there wasn't going to be any oxygen outside; she backed off heading to the TARDIS when she noticed something else. Stood next to her home, was yet another TARDIS. The chameleon circuit was either broken or disabled, as it was still in it's default chrome cylinder state. She then realised this TARDIS was emanating an oxygen field. Taking a breath, the Doctor tentatively approached the foreign time capsule. "This is impossible. My TARDIS is the last one in the entire universe. There can't be another one; Missy's dead so it certainly isn't hers and it's not like there are any other Time Lords gallivanting around the universe." She faced the capsule, unsure as to how to proceed. With a frown, she lifted her arm and knocked on the door.

The capsule opened, and an unconscious middle aged man collapsed into her arms. He had short, grey hair and was wearing a blue suit with a white shirt. The Doctor thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't quite put a name to the face…

"CORSAIR!?" She exclaimed as the mysterious stranger's identity dawned on her. Someone yelling his name was enough to bring him to consciousness. The Doctor lay him down as he sat up, holding his head apparently in pain. "Corsair **I** correct? My god it's been centuries since I last saw you!" the Doctor exclaimed, both happy and shocked to see her old friend. The Corsair faced her with a scowl. "Sorry, who are you?" he questioned, not recognising the strange woman sitting in front of him. "Have I not met you yet?"

"Well not this version of me I suppose" the Doctor replied.

"Who are you then?"

"I'm the Doctor!"

The Corsair began laughing. "Yeah right lady, I know every version of the Doctor and I can say for a fact he was never a woman. So go on then, who are you really?"

The Doctor frowned. "I AM the Doctor. Freshly regenerated. See?" she said raising her hand, releasing some left over regeneration energy.

"I see you're a Time Lord, but you can't be the Doctor. The Doctor was an old man; then a clown, then a dandy, then he was bipolar, then a gentleman, then awfully sassy, then he was manipulative, then an egotist, a soldier, a northerner, a ladykiller and a manchild but he was never a woman!"

The Doctor paused as the Corsair finished summarising his past lives. "Well they were the Doctor from his first regeneration cycle. I am the second Doctor from the second cycle." The Doctor told him matter-of-factly.

This piqued his interest. "How'd you get another regeneration cycle?" The Doctor paused with a frown on her face. "You know I don't actually remember. I was somewhere important, and I think I was dying, and then all I remember is regenerating into an old man. I can't remember how I got a new cycle."

"Well I suppose it's possible…" the Corsair said with some doubt. "Alright then, tell me something only the Doctor would know."

"Like what?"

"His name"

The Doctor stared at the Corsair. "You know I can't tell you that" she said.

"Not his real name!" the Corsair dismissed. "I don't know that. Only the Doctor and his parents know his real name, and I'm not even sure about the latter. I want to know the name we gave him at the Academy."

"Oh that's easy. Theta Sigma" the Doctor said gleefully. The Corsair paused. "…Doctor?" he asked.

"The one and only"

"It IS you!" He said with excitement. He stood up, offering her his hand. She took it has he lifted her up. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I had just regenerated and was setting off when you crashed into me" the Doctor told him.

"I crashed into YOU? No no no, YOU crashed into ME!" He informed her.

The Doctor scoffed. "I assure you I did not! How did you even get here?"

"I escaped from Gallifrey. OH GOD THAT REMINDS ME!" He shouted in panic as the Doctor wondered what he meant by escaping Gallifrey. He couldn't have broken out of the Time War's Time Lock could he? That was impossible.

"My TARDIS took heavy hull damage during my escape, it damaged the Eye of Harmony Containment Field, the ship's gonna explode any minute now! And take this entire asteroid belt with it!" He told her urgently.

That caught the Doctor's attention. They both ran back to her TARDIS, however it was still repairing from the crash landing. "The console was destroyed when we crashed into each other! I can't take off!" The Doctor told him. "We aren't gonna die here are we?"

"Wait I have an idea!" she said, grabbing his hand and jumping the railing to reach the lower level of the console room. She continued running, down into the TARDIS' corridors looking for one particular room. "Come on where was it" she thought to herself running down the endless corridors. Eventually they came to a room opposite the kitchens and the swimming pool. "No wonder I couldn't find this place, I hardly ever use thing wing of the TARDIS" she said as they reached the secondary control room. "Boy am I glad I had this installed" she said as they entered a small wooden room. The room had a sunken floor, containing a wooden control panel. The time rotor was missing, with a non-functional scanner on the opposite side of the room. The Doctor had made use of this room during his adventures with Sarah Jane, as it was just a nice change from the regular console room. He hadn't used it since, but considering the primary console was out of order for the time being, this would have to do.

There wasn't time to dematerialise, so the Doctor just sent the TARDIS flying upwards at the speed of light (she didn't want to go TOO fast) as they narrowly avoided the Corsair's TARDIS exploding.

"What is this? Type 39?" the Corsair inquired. "Type 40 actually" the Doctor replied.

"Oh great, it's a miracle we survived in this old hunk of junk"

"Oi!" the Doctor exclaimed, angered by his comments. "If you hadn't crashed into me, you wouldn't have to be in this 'hunk of junk'" she said coldly. Dismissing her outburst, the Corsair questioned where they were going.

"HADS is likely taking us to the nearest hospitable planet, it wants to take us as far away from that explosion as possible."

"Any idea what that planet is?"

"The scanner's disabled in this room, so why don't we take a look?" she replied as she headed towards the exit. Opening the doors, she immediately recognised the planet they were orbiting.

"Karn"


	3. Chapter 3: Lost Times

The Corsair drooped. "Karn?" he repeated with contempt. "I hate Karn. The Sisterhood of the Flame really give me the creeps. And they're so pretentious!" He exclaimed.

"Coming from a Time Lord" the Doctor muttered to herself. "Listen, I have my own problems with the Sisterhood, but I need to have a talk with them regarding how you broke out of the Time Lock." The Corsair looked puzzled. "The Time Lock? Doctor I didn't escape from the Time War, I escaped from post-war Gallifrey" he informed her like it was obvious.

The Doctor whirled around to face him. "What are you talking about? There is no post-war Gallifrey, it was destroyed on the last day of the war. The Time Lords and the Daleks were both destroyed that day. For the most part." She said as she thought back to the countless times the Daleks had returned only to be destroyed again by her hand. "I should know I made it happen. I stole the Moment from the Omega Arsenal in order to end the war." She said with regret. "I had to; Arcadia was falling and when that went the Daleks would go on to take the rest of the universe. I couldn't let that happen. The war had to end. Don't think for a second I don't regret it, but it worked. The Time War ended that day and the universe was saved." The Doctor informed him, sadness in her eyes.

This just confused the Corsair even more. "Doctor I was there on Gallifrey that day. I was fighting in the streets trying to get civilians to the lower levels of the citadel. I saw you, all of you, fly this TARDIS into Gallifrey's lower atmosphere. I don't know what you did but the next thing I knew the Dalek's ships had disappeared and the Sky Trench was stabilising. I rescued the civilians then joined a counter-force purging the remaining Daleks from Gallifrey. I don't know what you did but you saved the Time Lords that day. You didn't destroy them!"

The Doctor stood shocked. She had no memory of saving Gallifrey, she remembered standing in the hut that served as her retreat back in her youth. It was in that hut she had used The Moment, and was teleported back to the TARDIS where she regenerated, crashed on Earth and fought off an Auton invasion. But yet, the Corsair's story felt… familiar. As if she remembered doing it, but only in a dream. She was certain she had destroyed Gallifrey that day, but after running into the Corsair there was now doubt in in her mind.

"That sounds familiar" she started. "But I could have sworn I destroyed Gallifrey… we're going to the Sisterhood. We apparently have more pressing matters to discuss."

The engines of the TARDIS died down as they realised they had arrived at their destination. Stepping outside, they were greeted by the high priestess. "Doctor" she said addressing the Corsair. "I see you've bought some company to our temple."

"Actually I'm the Doctor" she said stepping in front of the Corsair. "We've come here asking for your help."

"And why should we help you?"

"Because I worry the fate of Gallifrey hangs in balance"

They arrived in the main chamber of the temple, where the rest of the Sisters were already gathered. They knelt on the floor; hands join with each other in prayer. The Doctor, Corsair and high priestess joined them. "So you need help remembering the last day of the time war, correct?" the priestess asked.

"Yes that's right" The Doctor confirmed, taking the hands of one of the Sisters alongside the Corsair.

"With the help of your friend there, we will be able to create a telepathic field strong enough to disable and psychic barriers that might have been placed on you." The high priestess informed the Doctor. "Before we begin we want you to know that if there are any repressed memories, unlocking them might be painful. Do you still want to proceed?" The Doctor nodded as the Sisters began chanting. As the field was created, the Doctor lost consciousness.

Of course her subconscious was going wild, what with the amount of trespassers attempting to access her mind. Her subconscious put up a barrier to protect itself, but the telepathic field was too powerful. The barrier was destroyed, and the Doctor found herself wandering through her memories. She could hear the chants of the Sisterhood guiding her through her past. She wandered through her mind, seeing the time Ian and Barbara broke into her TARDIS, the first time she met Sarah Jane, giving the lifesaving antidote to Peri, seeing Rose destroy a Dalek fleet with the power of the Time Vortex. She cried as she saw the memory of the last time she saw Amelia Pond's face before it vanished into the past. She was approaching more recent memories when suddenly everything turned white. She could see her last adventure with the Ponds in New York, but after that everything seemed to fade. Moving on, she saw herself overlooking the Singing Towers with River as they shared a kiss. A little further ahead she saw the first time Bill had walked into her office. Heading back to the white space, she realised that in between losing the Ponds and losing River, an entire chunk of memories had seemed to be hidden. Someone had done something to make her forget certain events. Unlocking these memories could be the key to saving Gallifrey. The Sisterhood's chanting was getting faster. She saw the Corsair standing next to her in this white space. He turned to face her.

"You have to remember Doctor. Remember what was forgotten…" He said as he faded away. The Doctor turned to focus on the blank space between memories. As she started concentrating on this space, images began to form. They were very translucent, but the more the Doctor focused the clearer they became. She saw a room with a singular Dalek in chains; snowmen with teeth, a little girl with a robot head, another girl standing before a massive star, a submarine and an old mansion. With each passing memory, the previous ones became clearer. However the Doctor had a worrying feeling something was missing from these memories. She hit a slight roadblock; there was a certain area where memories were not resurging. She continued further ahead, and saw her previous incarnation having a cup of tea with an autonomous man, sitting in a miniaturisation capsule, fighting robots in medieval England, and standing in front of a chalkboard staring at the word 'Listen' written on it. As more and more memories where coming back to her, the Doctor was absolutely certain something was missing.

She continued on reliving forgotten memories. She had just witnessed herself punch through a wall of Azbantium when she suddenly saw her previous incarnation on Gallifrey. He was holding a gun and seemingly had shot someone. The Doctor was horrified by what she saw, but had a feeling she was close to solving the mystery. A little further ahead, she saw herself holding a particular device. Someone was standing opposite him, holding the other end of the device. The figure and her previous incarnation both pressed down on the device's singular button, which lead to her last incarnation falling onto the ground. He looked up to see the teary face of Clara Oswald. "Give me a smile Clara. Who knows I might remember it" he told the grieving companion.

The Doctor's eyes shot open as she remembered everything. Finding the Impossible Girl in the Dalek Asylum, finding her again in Victorian England, and once again in 21st century London. He had taken her in as his companion after he lost the Ponds. They shared adventures exploring the universe together when they eventually arrived at the National Gallery in London where they discovered Gallifrey Falls No More. The memories all came back to her as she remembered each incarnation flying to Gallifrey where they froze it in a stasis cube in another dimension.

The Corsair turned to face her. "Doctor are you alright?" He asked.

"We have to find Gallifrey" She responded.


End file.
